Gregory Lanier, 35, told officers he was driving down the motorway when his dog kicked what he thought was an unloaded handgun sitting on the raised floor section between the passenger and driver's seat of his pickup truck.

But Mr Lanier soon discovered the 9mm Beretta had at least one bullet inside as it discharged and struck him in the left calf.

Mr Lanier told police he "heard a boom, saw smoke and felt a burning in his leg" as the bullet entered and then exited his leg and struck the door panel.

The wounded man pulled his Ford F250 into a nearby petrol station, where the store clerk - a friend of Mr Lanier's - called for emergency personnel.

According to the police report, Mr Lanier told his friend the dog was jumping around in the truck and kicked the unholstered weapon. He also had a rifle in the truck, which he said was unloaded.

Mr Lanier was taken to hospital for treatment.

His dog, which Sebring Police spokesman Steve Carr tells Sky News was a tan and white bulldog, was taken to a friend's home.